Michael Proppe was the student government president at the University of Michigan.

Joe ShapiroNPR

The number of "forcible rapes" that get reported at four-year colleges increased 49 percent between 2008 and 2012. That's the finding of an analysis by NPR's Investigative Unit of data from the Department of Education.

That increase shows that sexual assault is a persistent and ugly problem on college campuses. But there's also a way to look at the rise in reports and see something positive: It means more students are willing to come forward and report this underreported crime.

"It's a good thing that more victims are reporting because they're getting the help and support they need from their institutions," says Daniel Carter, a veteran advocate for better campus safety laws.

"For far too long, they've been left on their own. And now they're getting the help they need, which is the first step in healing and recovery and ultimately ... finishing their education as wholly as possible."

Carter is the director of a group called 32 National Campus Safety Initiative. He says there's still a long way for schools to go.

This week, the White House told colleges and universities to take more action to prevent sexual assaults. And just in the past couple of years, many schools have taken on sexual assault investigations with more seriousness. School administrations have been prodded by students who are demanding better treatment. And schools have been pushed, since 2011, by new rules and laws from Washington, D.C.

Among the schools that Carter and other advocates point to as being models is the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor.

But that school, which gives a series of training sessions to first-year students on preventing sexual assault, has had its own controversy — showing just how hard it can be for schools to take on this problem.

The University of Michigan is already doing most of the steps suggested by the White House to prevent sexual assaults on college campuses. For example, the school teaches "bystander education," which shows students how to step in and stop a dangerous situation that they see — such as a student trying to get another student drunk at a party.

Students not only are taught the definition of consent but then role-play and practice saying "No" and even how to respond correctly — and graciously — when told "No."

The data NPR analyzed show that reports of forcible sexual assaults between 2010 and 2012 have gone up 113 percent at the University of Michigan.

"So if you say, look, University of Michigan, we want you to be aggressive. We want you to be focused. We want you to get your students to tell you what's going on, then our numbers are going to go up," says Royster Harper, the school's vice president for student affairs. "If you want low numbers, you're really saying to students, be quiet. We should expect the more education we do, the safer our students feel, the more they see us responding. We should expect our numbers to go up."

And students have not been quiet.

In February, a small group of students protested the way the university handled sexual misconduct allegations against a player on the football team.

In 2009, a first-year student said the player, Brendan Gibbons, raped her at a fraternity party. But the case was dropped. Last August, the school adopted a new policy — based on new guidelines issued by the Department of Education in 2011 — that gave the school more leeway to conduct an investigation. A retired professor, who acts as a local watchdog, then filed a new complaint over the Gibbons investigation, and the case against the football player was reopened.

And in December, right before Michigan went to a bowl game, Gibbons was expelled.

But some students wanted to know whether the university had waited too long.

University officials refused to turn over records to an investigative committee formed by the student government. Administrators say the records had to stay confidential.

The student report concluded that the university took too long — more than 60 days — to investigate most allegations. In January, the school hired a second, full-time investigator — to look into reports of sexual assault.

"If the University of Michigan still has a ways to go, but is doing a good job relative to everyone else, everyone else really needs to do a lot to catch up," says Michael Proppe, the student government president at the time, who established the student task force.

By next fall, all schools around the country must comply with a new federal law, the Campus SaVE Act, which demands more assault prevention education and better investigations.

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

This week, the White House told colleges and universities it's time to take more action to prevent sexual assaults. Every school is already required to report to the federal government any crime that occurs on campus. NPR's investigative unit has been analyzing the data on this from the Department of Education data. It found that the number of reported forcible rapes at four-year colleges has gone way up, a 49 percent increase between 2008 and 2012.

NPR's Joseph Shapiro reports.

JOSEPH SHAPIRO, BYLINE: That 49 percent increase shows that sexual assault is a persistent and ugly problem on college campuses. More than 3,600 cases in 2012. But there's also a way to look at the rise in reports and see something positive. It means more students are willing to come forward and report this under-reported crime.

Daniel Carter is a veteran advocate for better campus safety laws.

DANIEL CARTER: It's a good thing that more victims are reporting because they're getting the help and support they need from their institutions. And this is - for far too long, they've been left on their own. And now they're getting the help they need. Which is the first step in healing and recovery and ultimately, you know, them finishing their education as wholly as possible.

SHAPIRO: Carter is the director of a group called 32 National Campus Safety Initiative. He says there's still a long way for schools to go. But just in the last couple years, school administrations have been prodded by students demanding better treatment. And schools have been pushed, since 2011, by new rules and laws from Washington.

Among the schools that Carter and other advocates point to as being models is the University of Michigan. But that school, too, has had controversy, which shows just how hard it can be for schools to take on the problem of sexual assault.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELLS CHIMING)

SHAPIRO: On the campus of the University of Michigan, it's exam week. Graduation is on Saturday. And in a room at the student union, a group of students and staff sit around a conference table to talk about the training sessions they'll run for incoming first-year students about how to prevent sexual assault.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: What would you have done if your parents had asked you, like, what's an example of a healthy relationship in your life.

SHAPIRO: The White House announced steps it wants schools to take to prevent sexual assaults. The University of Michigan is already doing most of those things. For example, it teaches what's called bystander education, which shows students how to step in and stop a dangerous situation if they see, say, one student trying to get another student drunk at a party.

Students not only are taught the definition of consent, but then role play and practice saying the word no, and even how to respond correctly and graciously when you're told no. The NPR data shows that reports of forcible sexual assaults have gone up 113 percent at Michigan between 2010 and 2012.

Royster Harper is the school's vice president for student affairs.

ROYSTER HARPER: So if you say, look, University of Michigan, we want you to be aggressive. We want you to be focused. We want you to get young people to - your students to tell you what's going on, then our numbers are going to go up. If you want low numbers, you're really saying to students, be quiet.

SHAPIRO: And students have not been quiet.

(SOUNDBITE OF CROWD CHANTING)

SHAPIRO: In February, a small group of students protested the way the university handled an allegation of sexual misconduct against a player on the football team. In 2009, a first-year student said the player, Brendan Gibbons, raped her at a frat party, but the case was dropped. Last August, the school adopted a new policy based on new federal guidelines that gave the school more leeway to conduct an investigation.

The case against Gibbons was reopened. In December, right before Michigan went to a bowl game, the player was expelled. Some students thought Gibbons got special treatment. University officials refused to turn over records to an investigative committee formed by the student government. That student committee concluded that the university took too long, more than 60 days, to investigate most allegations.

In January, the school had hired a second investigator to spend full time on sexual assault cases. Michael Proppe was the student government president.

MICHAEL PROPPE: If the University of Michigan still has a ways to go, but is doing a good job relative to everyone else, everyone else really needs to do a lot of catch-up.

SHAPIRO: By next fall, all schools around the country must comply with a new federal law that demands more assault prevention education and better investigations. Joseph Shapiro, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.